Founded in 2005 by Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Niklas Adalberth, and Victor Jacobsson in Stockholm, Sweden, Klarna was created to make online shopping safer and simpler by letting consumers pay after receiving their goods. The concept was revolutionary in e-commerce and Klarna grew into Europe's most valuable fintech startup. Today, Klarna serves over 150 million consumers and 500,000 merchants across 45 countries. Its buy now, pay later model has reshaped consumer finance globally. After a period of significant valuation decline during the 2022 fintech downturn, Klarna staged a major comeback and went public on the NYSE in July 2024 at a valuation of over $6.7 billion.
Active Founders
Sebastian Siemiatkowski
Founder / CEO
Sebastian Siemiatkowski is the co-founder and CEO of Klarna. He initially pitched the buy now pay later concept at the Stockholm School of Economics entrepreneurship award and came in last place. Undeterred, he launched the company anyway. Sebastian has steered Klarna through extraordinary growth as well as its painful 2022 downturn, cutting the workforce significantly before engineering a remarkable recovery and leading the company to a successful NYSE IPO in 2024.
Niklas Adalberth
Co-Founder
Niklas Adalberth is the co-founder of Klarna. A former Burger King employee who worked his way through school, he brought a grounded work ethic and entrepreneurial energy to Klarna's founding team. After helping build Klarna into Europe's largest fintech company, Niklas departed to pursue philanthropic ventures, founding Norrsken Foundation, a Stockholm-based impact hub that supports entrepreneurs solving the world's biggest problems.
Klarna